Digital storytelling is one of those huge developments in our generation that seemingly arrived on the scene without great fanfare. One day it was just there. The transformation from radio to television was a big evolution but once we became a nation of watchers, everything else seemed to arrive on the scene without as much surprise – computers have evolved from desktop giants to mini-notebooks to the tablet computer – televisions gave birth to VCR’s, DVD players, big screen TV’s, plasma, high definition and now 3D.

Digital storytelling

A story can be a combination of facts, morals, new ideas and knowledge. Since the listener is completely reliant on the story teller for his interpretation of the story, it is very important for the story to be told in a very interesting and evocative manner, in order to render it easily understandable. Thus, the art of storytelling can serve multiple functions for an educator.

When a story is being told, several things should be kept in mind. Begin the story by an engaging introduction, for instance, by relating where the story is based, with not only the present details of the place but its history should also be added to give a comprehensive overview. This can be followed by introducing the characters of the story. Ensure that you narrate the story with a lot of bright and vivid expressions to keep your listener engaged.

One day we turned on our computers and YouTube was a sensation. In a sense, YouTube is digital storytelling – the use of mixed media to weave together images, narrative, and music to bring to life the stories in our lives. For better or for worse, the digital tidbits put up on YouTube will live in infamy. But it does speak to the hunger of human beings to have their stories told.

A digital story is usually a video clip that is less than 5 minutes long, most often spoken in the first person narrative, using your own voice. There will be still images put together to illustrate the story you are telling, and often a music track will be added in the background to tug on the heartstrings of your audience. Your audience, for the purposes of genealogy, may not even be alive yet. Our parent company, LS3 Studios can turn your research into lasting memories documentary.

Technology has allowed us to use storytelling to leave our voice, smile, laugh, speech patterns, live color images of our hairstyle and clothing, to future generations. Where today we are limited to preserving pieces of paper to prove our ancestors lived, tomorrow’s generations of researchers will be able to watch their ancestors on the big screen using the latest and greatest digital storytelling device.